Effect of a Minor Sr Modifier on the Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of 7075 T6 Al Alloys

The influence of a minor strontium (Sr) modifier on the microstructures and mechanical properties of 7075 Al alloys was investigated in this paper. The grain size of cast 7075 Al alloys was refined from 157 mu m to 115 mu m, 108 mu m, and 105 mu m after adding 0.05 wt. %, 0.1 wt. %, and 0.2 wt. % Sr, respectively. The extruded 7075 Al alloys was refined with different degrees of Sr modifier. The mechanical properties were optimum when adding 0.1 wt. % Sr. The ultimate tensile strength (sigma(b)) increased from 573 to 598 MPa and the elongation-to-failure (delta(f)) was raised from 19.5% to 24.9%. The microhardness increased from 182 to 195 Hv. The tensile fracture surface via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a transition from brittle fracture to ductile fracture as Sr increased from 0 wt. % to 0.2 wt. %. The result in this paper proved that the modifier can improve the properties of 7075 Al alloy.